The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has announced Google as the Creative Marketer of the Year 2018. The award honors brands that distinguish themselves through consistently outstanding creative storytelling. This year, Google is recognized for embracing creativity across their brand marketing, the application of new technology to creating effective campaigns, and inclusive storytelling. The Cannes Lions honor will be collected by Google’s chief marketing officer, Lorraine Twohill, during the closing award eeremony on Friday, June 22.
To celebrate the award and ensure the future of the marketing industry is one which is driven by a variety of backgrounds, perspectives and experiences, the company will launch the Google Creative Campus at the 2018 Cannes Lions.
Google Creative Campus will focus on driving greater gender, ethnicity and socio-demographic diversity in the creative industries. Operating in partnership with the Roger Hatchuel Academy, the combined program will educate 45 students in Cannes, at least 50% of which will come from groups that are historically underrepresented in advertising and marketing. Students will be selected by Cannes Lions representatives, from advertising, communications, and related marketing disciplines and additionally, 10 of the chosen students will receive bursaries from Google.
“At Google we build for everyone, and our marketing campaigns must speak to people all around the world with different backgrounds, languages, and points of view. We want to support more talented newcomers who bring different perspectives into the industry. This isn’t about ‘multicultural marketing’; it’s marketing in a multicultural world. Without this diversity, there is no creativity,” said Twohill.
Following a week of training at Cannes Lions in June, the group will participate in a second week-long immersion trip at Google’s Mountain View, Calif. headquarters in the second half of the year.
“Alongside its obvious achievements as a technology company, Google as a brand has crafted a reputation for marketing campaigns that are bold, courageous and creative. Over the history of the Festival, Google has taken home an incredible 127 Lions. Ground-breaking campaigns like NYT VR, Google Deepmind Alphago, Google Cardboard, Google Voice Search and Hilltop Reimagined for Coca-Cola–all of which won Grands Prixs–are clear examples of Google’s drive to constantly challenge and strive for creative excellence. We’re proud to be able to honor them with this prestigious award and also look forward to launching the Google Creative Campus at this year’s Festival–another testament to their commitment to furthering creativity,” said Jose Papa, managing director, Cannes Lions.
Previous winners of the Creative Marketer of the Year Award include Burger King, Samsung and Coca-Cola.
Jennifer Kent On Why Her Feature Directing Debut, “The Babadook,” Continues To Haunt Us
"The Babadook," when it was released 10 years ago, didn't seem to portend a cultural sensation.
It was the first film by a little-known Australian filmmaker, Jennifer Kent. It had that strange name. On opening weekend, it played in two theaters.
But with time, the long shadows of "The Babadook" continued to envelop moviegoers. Its rerelease this weekend in theaters, a decade later, is less of a reminder of a sleeper 2014 indie hit than it is a chance to revisit a horror milestone that continues to cast a dark spell.
Not many small-budget, first-feature films can be fairly said to have shifted cinema but Kent's directorial debut may be one of them. It was at the nexus of that much-debated term "elevated horror." But regardless of that label, it helped kicked off a wave of challenging, filmmaker-driven genre movies like "It Follows," "Get Out" and "Hereditary."
Kent, 55, has watched all of this — and those many "Babadook" memes — unfold over the years with a mix of elation and confusion. Her film was inspired in part by the death of her father, and its horror elements likewise arise out of the suppression of emotions. A single mother (Essie Davis) is struggling with raising her young son (Noah Wiseman) years after the tragic death of her husband. A figure from a pop-up children's book begins to appear. As things grow more intense, his name is drawn out in three chilling syllables — "Bah-Bah-Doooook" — an incantation of unprocessed grief.
Kent recently spoke from her native Australia to reflect on the origins and continuing life of "The Babadook."
Q: Given that you didn't set out to in any way "change" horror, how have you regarded the unique afterlife of "The... Read More